Methods of fabricating interferometric modulators by selectively removing a material
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for making a MEMS device comprising:
- depositing a material over a first electrode layer;
forming a second electrode layer over the material; and
selectively removing a sacrificial portion of the material to thereby form a cavity and a support structure of the MEMS device, the support structure comprising a remaining portion of the material the second electrode layer comprising a moveable layer supported by the support structure.
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Abstract
Methods for making MEMS devices such as interferometric modulators involve selectively removing a sacrificial portion of a material to form an internal cavity, leaving behind a remaining portion of the material to form a post structure. The material may be blanket deposited and selectively altered to define sacrificial portions that are selectively removable relative to the remaining portions. Alternatively, a material layer can be laterally recessed away from openings in a covering layer. These methods may be used to make unreleased and released interferometric modulators.
143 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for making a MEMS device comprising:
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depositing a material over a first electrode layer;
forming a second electrode layer over the material; and
selectively removing a sacrificial portion of the material to thereby form a cavity and a support structure of the MEMS device, the support structure comprising a remaining portion of the material the second electrode layer comprising a moveable layer supported by the support structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 34, 35)
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14. An unreleased MEMS substrate comprising a material, the MEMS substrate being configured so that a sacrificial portion of the material is removable to form a cavity;
- and the MEMS substrate being further configured so that a remaining portion of the material forms a post structure of an interferometric modulator upon removal of the sacrificial portion.
- View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for making an interferometric modulator, the interferometric modulator comprising at least a first mirror, a second mirror separated from the first mirror by a cavity, and a post structure positioned at a side of the cavity and configured to support the second mirror spaced from the first mirror, the method comprising:
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providing a substrate, the substrate having a first area configured to underlie the first mirror and a second area configured to underlie the post structure;
depositing a first mirror layer over at least the first area;
depositing a material over the first area and over the second area;
selectively altering at least one selected from the group consisting of the material over the first area and the material over the second area; and
depositing a second mirror layer over at least the material over the first area;
the material over the first area being removable to thereby form the cavity and the post structure, where the post structure comprises the material over the second area. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification